Many Cape Breton homeowners choosing to go small these days

“Tiny,” the small house belonging to Nicky Duenkel and Judy Pratt, is pictured while being transported to its new home in Ross Ferry. - Submitted

Sociology professor examines growing tiny homes movement in new book

SYDNEY, N.S. — Tiny home owners are finding more financial freedom and personal time in smaller spaces.

As part her research into the tiny home movement, assistant professor of sociology Tracey Harris has observed that many homeowners are choosing to go small for both economic and personal reasons.

In her manuscript, tentatively titled ‘The Tiny House Movement: Challenging our Consumer Culture,’ to be published this fall by Lexington Books, Harris examines the correlation between smaller homes and buying less.

“We live in a time where there’s a lot of economic uncertainty for people,” said Harris, a faculty member at Cape Breton University.

“People are searching for something more than working and buying stuff. They want to have a better quality of life, that’s meaningful to them. On an individual level, you can’t consume a lot of stuff because your space is so confined, so I think that it offers an interesting example of living well with less.”

Tracey Harris and daughter, Olivia, are shown outside a tiny home with a dome roof in California.

Harris said although Canadian households have decreased over time, the average house size has grown from 800 square feet in the 1940s to about 2,000 square feet today.

But larger house sizes are not for everyone. Harris said anecdotal evidence suggests that an increasing number of consumers are bucking the trend. As for what constitutes a tiny house, there is a mix of opinions. Most importantly, followers of the movement believe it comes down to how a space is utilized.

“People that I talked to in the movement said that the most important thing is to sort of sit down and really think through what you want to be able to do in your house and then design it around that, which is very different than how you think of a conventional house where it’s just sort of built and then we go in and fill it with stuff.”

Harris said pinpointing how many tiny homes exist in Canada is difficult, as many owners chose to fly under radar due to jurisdictional restrictions that make their house sizes illegal.

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality’s two land-use bylaws exclude the term, although CBRM’s director of planning and development, Malcolm Gillis, said there are good reasons for that.

“The term ‘tiny house’ is too loosely defined in pertinent contemporary literature and most importantly, CBRM does not have a minimum dwelling unit size, nor does it have a minimum lot parcel size,” said Gillis.

Gillis said instead developments are regulated using a percentage lot coverage provision.

In the case of erecting a tiny home in the CBRM, the structure must be built in compliance with the province’s building code regulations and be secured to a foundation. But there’s a catch.

“If a so-called tiny house has wheels connected to a chassis we can consider it to be a recreational vehicle,” said Gillis.

To connect to mainstream power, a “recreational vehicle” must be located in a rural area, meet CSA requirements, and carry a development permit rather than a building permit.

Matthew Willox of Howling Dog Construction in Coxheath says there is a great deal of planning when it comes to building

Matthew Willox of Howling Dog Construction in Coxheath has built two tiny homes and said they can be tricky.

Most importantly, Willox said, builders must recognize that no standard fixtures will do.

“Planning has to be meticulous,” said Willox. “Everything is so tight that everything down to what sort of handles are on the drawers matters. The nice thing about them is you can take them anywhere when you’re done.”

Willox’s clients include Nicky Duenkel and Judy Pratt, who have lived in a tiny home in Ross Ferry with their dog since 2015.

Their home measures 220-square feet, including two lofts. In order to fit into the small space, Duenkel and Pratt reduced their belongings by about two-thirds.

Although Pratt is already retired, the downsize allowed Duenkel to work less and enjoy more personal freedoms.

The couple recommend smaller living but acknowledge it’s not for everyone.

“It’s one thing to think you can live in a small space, and another to actually be happy doing so,” said Duenkal. “Renting a tiny house for a week before moving ahead with our plans was one of the most important aspects of our tiny process.

“We have lived in small spaces before and also have lived in regular-sized houses. So, for us, it wasn’t much of a challenge physically. There’s no room for extra physical stuff. If we bring something new into Tiny, then something else has to go out.”

Cape Breton couple Judy Pratt, left, and Nicky Duenkel along with their dog Shanti, have been living in a 220-square foot tiny home in Ross Ferry since 2015.

Harris said primary groups of people who are turning to smaller homes are a younger generation who don’t necessarily have the same career expectations as their parents or grandparents did.

Meanwhile another noticeable growing demographic turning to downsizing is the retirement crowd who are looking to facilitate a better quality of life in their golden years.

Erin.pottie@cbpost.com

Shrinking sizes

• Large households comprised of five or more people accounted for 38.2 per cent of all households in 1941, falling to 8.4 per cent in 2011. (Statistics Canada)

Shown is the interior of the second tiny home built by Coxheath carpenter, Matthew Willox, who says maximizing space is key when building a tiny home. Submitted photo

• Research indicates that a smaller house and less consumption can often represent 30-40 per cent recovery of gross household income, with no loss of quality of life. (Tiny Home Alliance Canada)

• The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation estimates the cost of tiny home construction typically ranges from $20,000 to $45,000, although experts say it is very dependent on the quality of materials, style and décor.

• In the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, the term “tiny house” is not found in either of two land-use bylaws in effect.